1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a liquid crystal display apparatus including a protective plate and a liquid crystal display panel, and to a manufacturing method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
There has heretofore been known a liquid crystal display apparatus wherein a transparent protective plate for protecting the display surface of a liquid crystal display panel is bonded to the liquid crystal display panel through a resin layer so that the liquid crystal display panel and the protective plate are integrated.
Such a liquid crystal display apparatus undergoes the following process to integrate the protective plate and the liquid crystal display panel: The liquid crystal display panel and the protective plate are arranged face to face so that a space is made between the display surface of the liquid crystal display panel and the protective plate. Then, the space between the liquid crystal display panel and the protective plate is filled with a viscous unpolymerized resin. Further, the filling unpolymerized resin is polymerized and cured.
In the meantime, the liquid crystal display panel is structured so that an optical sheet such as a polarizing plate is affixed to a pair of substrates holding a liquid crystal layer in between. The unpolymerized resin is filled into the space formed between the protective plate and the optical sheet.
However, it has heretofore been the case that if the unpolymerized resin passes around the optical sheet when the unpolymerized resin is filled into the space, the unpolymerized resin adheres to the end face of the optical sheet because the end face of the optical sheet is exposed. That is, the unpolymerized resin or its solvent comes into contact with the end face of the optical sheet when the unpolymerized resin is filled into the space.
Here, the unpolymerized resin contains a solvent based on a hydrocarbon such as hexane that dissolves the unpolymerized resin. Moreover, the surface of the optical sheet is protected from the external environment by, for example, a coating material, but the end face of the optical sheet is exposed from the coating material because the optical sheet itself is cut into a predetermined size. This exposed portion is subject to adverse effects due to a solvent based on a hydrocarbon such as hexane.
Therefore, in the conventional liquid crystal display apparatus, faults such as cracks may be generated in the optical sheet due to the adhesion of the unpolymerized resin to the end face of the optical sheet with the passage of time after the protective place and the liquid crystal display panel are integrated.